The Muppets return to primetime with a contemporary, documentary-style show. For the first time ever, a series will explore the Muppets' personal lives and relationships, both at home and at work, as well as romances, breakups, achievements, disappointments, wants and desires. This is a more adult Muppet show, for "kids" of all ages.

Steve Whitmire is a puppeteer, best known for performing as Kermit the Frog and Ernie from Sesame Street. He has performed as both characters since the death of Jim Henson in 1990.

Eric Jacobson is a puppeteer known for his work on The Muppets and Sesame Street.

Dave Goelz is a puppeteer known for his work on The Muppets and Sesame Street. He has also worked on shows such as Dinosaurs and Bear in the Big Blue House.

Bill Barretta is a puppeteer who has primarily worked on many varieties of Muppets films and specials. He has been performing with the Muppets since 1993.

Matt Vogel is a puppeteer with The Muppets and Sesame Street. He also did puppeteer work in an episode of 30 Rock.

Peter Linz is a puppeteer who has performed as the character Walter on The Muppets since the character's debut in the 2011 feature film The Muppets. He also appeared on shows like Blue's Room and The Puzzle Place and worked as a puppeteer for the Broadway musical Avenue Q.

Pilot Plot:

We have watched the first two episodes for review. Descriptions of the episodes are listed below:

"Pig Girls Don't Cry (Pilot)" (Airs September 22 at 8:00PM ET)

Miss Piggy is furious that Kermit booked Elizabeth Banks as a guest on her late night talk show Up Late with Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear meets his girlfriend's parents, and Grammy Award-winning rock band Imagine Dragons performs their new single "Roots."

"Hostile Takeover" (Airs September 29 at 8:00PM ET)

In an attempt to make Miss Piggy happy, Kermit sets her up with Josh Groban who fills her head with ideas on how to make Up Late with Miss Piggy better. Meanwhile, Fozzie is invited to a party at Jay Leno's house and everyone is annoyed that Bobo is selling cookies for his daughter's troop.

Analysis:

The Muppets has already sparked a lot of buzz over the summer, thanks to well-plotted PR stunts about how Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have broken up after a decades-long relationship. The reaction to these stunts was about on par with some of the real celebrity break-ups that took place over the summer, which just goes to show the level of passion long-time Muppets diehards have for these characters. The entire stunt rang a little hollow, blatantly trying to cash in on people's nostalgia and adoration for The Muppets for a marketing campaign...and yet, there was something about it that was kind of fun, and that sucked you in spite of itself. You kind of questioned why it needed to exist, and why you cared so much, and why it was working on you. But it did work on you. And that kind of sums up this entire new Muppets project in a nutshell. It feels a little unnecessary, and like it's trying very hard to pull at all of your childhood feelings for these characters while simultaneously feeling modern and "cool." But, at least in its first two episodes, it pretty much works!

Centering around the backstage antics of a Ms. Piggy-hosted talk show, The Muppets is being touted as a more "adult-friendly" vehicle for these characters, boasting a concept similar to 30 Rock and a format reminiscent of shows like The Office and Modern Family. Given that there are some pretty blatant jokes about Kermit's sexual escapades with his new girlfriend in the first 10 minutes of the pilot, it becomes clear that the target audience for this show isn't necessarily kids, but the people who grew up with these characters as kids. (That said, it's probably fine to watch with your kids - content-wise it's mostly pretty tame, and the sexual innuendo is all very mild and likely to go over the heads of any young viewers.) It is also more "adult" in how it handles the relationship between its characters. The major anchor of the show, thus far, is the broken courtship between Kermit and Ms. Piggy, and how the destruction of their personal relationship has affected their personal relationship. Their actual break-up scene is flashed back to in the pilot, and it's the best scene of the show thus far, far more emotional and raw than you would expect a scene in The Muppets to be. Similarly, a sub-plot like with Fozzie attempting to impress his girlfriend's parents despite their judgement of him has some well-utilized earnesty that, if doubled down on, could lead to The Muppets sustaining itself as a quality television show and not just a marketing ploy. On the other hand, the series gets a little clunky when it's attempting to shoehorn figures like Jay Leno and Tom Bergeron into the proceedings, where the joke of the scene seems to amount to little more than "look at these people talking to these characters you love!" There are lots of moments where The Muppets looks like it wants to take itself seriously as a TV show that's holding up a beloved institution. And then not long after that, Imagine Dragons plays us off with their new single. There is plenty of potential in this updated version of The Muppets, but it'll have to resist the urge of being a showbiz marketing tool and actually take its characters seriously.

Conclusion:

The Muppets is full of potential, and while the first two episodes aren't perfect, there's enough good within them to suggest that fans of the franchise can rest assured knowing the characters they love are in good hands. The question is whether the show can rise above the level of "a marketing tool that will please fans and allow celebrities to come plug their stuff sometimes" and become an actual great sitcom with some beloved characters that even non-fans can jump into and enjoy. It's too early to tell which route it will take, and there's evidence of both paths here. Here's to hoping The Muppets chooses the second option, because it would be a shame to see these excellent characters not used to their full capabilities.

Final Numbers (out of 5 stars):

Watchability: 4.5/5
Funniness: 3.5/5
Overall: 4/5

Discuss the show after you watch it on Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 8:00PM ET/PT on our message board.

Modern Family - "I Love a Parade" (ABC, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
The Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan are going to be setting off more than a few fireworks when they get together at the annual Fourth of July parade where Jay will be acting as the grand marshal. Meanwhile, Haley’s goodbye with Arvin before his trip to Switzerland doesn’t go as well as she pictured it and is distracted by the return of an old flame.

Single Parents - "Beyoncé Circa Lemonade" (ABC, 9:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After scolding Miggy for not being able to sleep-train baby Jack, Angie and Douglas engage in a competition to see who can sleep-train the baby in one night. While Angie and Douglas have the baby, Miggy takes over babysitting Graham, Rory, Sophie, Emma and Amy, which results in an impromptu kids’ party. Meanwhile, Poppy teaches Will how to take out his anger on the volleyball court.

The Goldbergs - "We Didn't Start the Fire" (ABC, 10:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
When Erica tells Beverly she is going to spend the first night of Hanukkah with Geoff and his family, Beverly worries and starts a competition for who hosts the best Hanukkah party. Meanwhile, Barry seeks advice from Pops on how to be cool and suggests entering into the school's talent show.

American Housewife - "Body Image" (ABC, 10:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After the previous “fattest housewife” in Westport gets plastic surgery to lose weight, Chloe Brown Mueller rubs it in Katie’s face that Katie has now assumed that title. In order to get revenge on Chloe, Katie goes through great lengths to dig up bad photos of Chloe from high school. In discussing body image with the kids, Katie and her mother, Kathryn, turn out to be bad influences on Anna-Kat and Taylor, unintentionally encouraging them to focus too much on the outward appearance. Over time, Katie realizes how judgmental she has become and that she is part of the problem.

Kristin Chenoweth (Trial & Error: Lady, Killer/Kristin) - Kristin is a guest on a repeat of ABC's GMA Day at 1pm.

Brooke Nevin (Call Me Fitz) and Michael Cassidy (People of Earth/Men at Work) - Brooke and Michael talk about the Hallmark Channel original Jingle Around the Clock on Home & Family on Hallmark Channel at 10am ET/PT.